How Does Shakespeare Show the Corruptio of the Court in Act 1 of as You Like It

How Does Shakespeare Show the Corruptio of the Court in Act 1 of as You Like It

How does Shakespeare introduce the corruption of the court in Act 1?
Shakespeare begins his play with a pair of fighting brothers that allows him to establish the breakdown of commonly held values of familial love and care. This is because Oliver, the eldest of Sir Roland de Boys three sons has broken with his father’s dying wishes and not given Orlando, the youngest son, the gentlemanly upbringing someone of his social status deserves and instead acts egotistically and spends more on his horses and educating his brother Jaques while Orlando gains “nothing under him but growth”. This breaking with the wishes of the dead and immediate disregard for common values allows Shakespeare to outline the severe corruption of the world of the court. Orlando however is shown to still hold and respect the old values of virtuousness and gentility as he repeats this throughout Scene 1 and also says “the spirit of my father, which I think is within me, begins to mutiny against this servitude” showing that he is against the corrupt oppressive court and wishes to behave in a proper way, like his father. This shocking hatred between the brothers is made clearest at the end of the scene when Oliver charges Charles, the king’s wrestler, with the murder of his brother during a wrestling tournament to “break his neck as his finger”.
In Act 1 Scene 2, Shakespeare provides us with a sense of hope for the future of the court as Celia says to Rosalind that “what he [Duke Frederick] hath taken away from thy father perforce, I will render thee again in affection; by mine honour”. This care and honouring of one's word out of respect are traditional values of the court and show that amongst the younger generation hope can be found. The juxtapositioning of this scene between Celia and Rosalind after the fight between Orlando and Oliver and then Oliver’s plot to kill his brother shows how broken down the court is where the daughter of a banished duke can be given more respect than the son of...